Mexico – Page 2 – BOLT: Black Old Lesbians Traveling

BOLT Reviews: Cenote Santa Barbara

May 24, 2021 by BOLT, posted in African American, Black, cenotes, Long term travel, Merida, Mexico, Mexico, Santa Barbara Cenote, Yucatán, Mexico, Yucatán

Words and pictures can not fully express the magic I experienced on our recent trip to the little town of Homun and the Cenote Santa Barbara.

A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The regional term is specifically associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where we are currently living.

The Maya believed cenotes to be a gateway to Xibalba, the underworld, and the god of rain, Chaac, was believed to live at the bottom of these sacred wells. The Maya performed rituals and ceremonies at sacred cenotes to ask for rain and good crops.

Cenote Santa Barbara has three really beautiful and accessable cenotes. We were able to explore and swim in all three. The stairs down to the cenotes were well designed and very stable they all had hand rails. This was not true for the cenote we visited in Valladolid and I chose not to risk going down.

To get to the first cenote you could ride a bike or the horse drawn cart. It’s a fun less than 10 minute ride, whichever you choose.

Our friends and we swam in all 3 cenotes. The water was cool but not cold. For me it was a relaxing and healing experience.

We ended our day at the restaurant on the premises. We were able to choose from many delicious options of Yuccatecan style food. Admission to the cenote, including lunch was 290 pesos, less than $15 USD!

For more information about these amazing gifts of nature visit https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/mexico-s-cenotes-hidden-gems-of-the-yucatan/

BOLT Reviews: Playa Bonita Beach Club

March 21, 2021 by BOLT, posted in African American, Beach Fun, Black, family, Fun, Gay, generational, Long term travel, Merida, Mexico, Mexico, Ocean, Old, Playa Bonita Beach Club, POC, Travel, WOC, Women, Yucatán

Just a short 3o minutes away from Mérida, Mexico is the city of Chelem. This sleepy little pueblo is home to the perfect spot for a getaway.

Playa Bonita Beach Club is the perfect spot for a day trip. For only 100 pesos (about $5 usd) you can spend all day on a comfortable beach lounge.

There is a lovely little pool, changing rooms and very clean restrooms.

I was especially delighted by how good, I mean really good the food and drinks were. There is a full, moderately priced menu. The waiters were attentive and friendly. You can have your food brought to your oceanside lounge or table.

I enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach and several people were actually enjoying time in the waves. All in all I spent a perfect day at Playa Bonita Beach Club. I can’t wait to go back!

If you have a special getaway spot in the Yucatan or wherever you are, we’d love to hear about it. Comment here or write us at BOLTraveling@gmail.com

Nuestras Primeras Dos Semanas en Mérida

December 15, 2020 by BOLT, posted in African American, Black, generational, Lesbian, Merida, Mexico, Mexico, Old, retirement, WOC, Women

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since our arrival in Merida. Because of Covid concerns we haven’t done much exploring yet, outside of getting to know our new neighborhood. Here is a summary of our first two weeks in pictures.

First off, We love our little orange house and the small compound in which we are living.

There is a lovely park one block away with walking trails. I am really enjoying my morning walks an seeing my neighbors and their dogs.

There is a GREAT BIG mall within walking distance too. It has EVERYTHING including an enormous supermarket (Soriana).

There are all kinds of restaurants in the area including a pretty good pizza place (yes, they deliver).

Equally close is another, smaller, mall with a fully stocked Walmart.

There is a beautiful community of Black folks here. They had a gathering in the park on Sunday which included a toy drive. Kathy enjoyed meeting some new folks and seeing some old friend and dropping off some toys.

We have a tortilleria right across the street from us, which is wonderful.

The place I was most excited to discover was right next door! There is a wonderful little tienda that sells fresh fruits and veggies, and egg. They even have a butcher!

So, our new life in Merida is comfortable, quiet and beautiful…all we could ask for during these difficult times. We look forward to exploring and sharing more as the weeks progress. Stay safe! Love and light to all!

?!Merida!?

December 6, 2020 by BOLT, posted in African American, DaNang, Vietnam, generational, Lesbian, Long term travel, Merida, Mexico, Mexico, Old, POC, queer, retirement, Travel, WOC, Women

My friend, Olivia, gave me the inspiration for this week’s blog post. She asked some great questions which I will answer here.

How was your time in Vietnam? It was wonderful! Vietnam handled the Covid crisis very well. It was very safe. Da Nang is beautiful and affordable. However, we came for a month and ended up staying for 10. We were concerned about having to review our visas every month and the strong possibility that we would eventually be denied.

Will you ever return to Asia? We hope so. We love Asia, especially Thailand and Malaysia. Plus there are several countries we still want to visit (India, Sri Lanka and Cambodia for sure). But if 2020 has taught me anything it’s that nothing is for certain.

What was your impetus to move to Mexico, in the middle of a pandemic? How did you choose Merida? Merida is one of the safest cities, not just in Mexico but the world. While the pandemic is of course a concern, we chose Merida because of it’s relatively low Covid numbers, thriving black ex pat community, affordable housing and proximity to family and friends in the U.S.

In or out of a pandemic Merida is very safe!

How are you feeling today? We traveled for 2 days, 4 planes plus all the packing and preparation. We are exhausted and jet lagged but grateful to have arrived safely. We tested for coronavirus before leaving Vietnam and were both negative. We plan to isolate for the recccomended 10 days and will wear masks and practice social distancing until further notice.

One question Olivia didn’t ask but I wanted to share on briefly is: What was traveling like during a pandemic? It was really surreal and a bit anxiety producing. Most of the airports were REALLY empty until we got to Houston. We treated ourselves to better seats, lounges and a hotel stay during our Houston layover. We wore masks at all times and my hands are so dry from all the washing and hand sanitizer. Overall our travel was a positive experience, for which we are very grateful!

Vietjet Travel Lounge (only 3 people there, including us)

Thank you Olivia for helping me to clarify what I wanted to share today, our 5th day in beautiful Merida.

Sonoyta Border Crossing

April 28, 2019 by BOLT, posted in African American, family, generational, Long distance, Mexico, retirement, RVing, Travel

Compared to our last border crossing (Tijuana with a 6 hour line of cars and bomb threats), today’s crossing was a breeze. We left Puerto Penasco this morning around noon headed for the border at Sonoyta.

Sonoyta is a small town in the Mexican state of Sonora. It’s right next to Lukeville, Arizona. The crossing station is only open from 6am to 6pm daily and is little used. There was one car ahead of us when we crossed at 11:30 am.

We had our passports ready and encountered no real problem. A U.S. Department of Agriculture agent did come into Winnie and left with a carton of eggs, some frozen chicken, potatoes and soy chorizo. Had we known we could have left those things in Puerto Penasco. Here’s a link for what foods can be brought from Mexico to the U.S.

The drive after crossing was quite lovely. Lots of cacti and small towns. We took highway 8 all the way. Right now we are spending the night in Campo, California and enjoying a beautiful sunset. One great thing about RV life is that home is where you parked it!

Chiang Mai to Ensenada… We made it!

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 by BOLT, posted in African American, Baja California, Chiang Mai, Thailand, dogs in Mexiso, Ensenada, Lesbian, Long distance, Long term travel, Mexico, Old, queer, retirement, rv, Tokyo, Travel

I’m too tired and jet lagged to write much but the BOLTs have arrived safely in Ensenada, Baja California Norte, Mexico.

We are reunited with the BOLT dog, Kahlo.

And are back in the cozy Winnie.

The trip was grueling with a 5 hour layover in Bangkok and a 12 hour one in Tokyo. We ventured out from Narita Airport, by bus, into Tokyo. I don’t recommend this. The bus ride is 3 hours round trip and all we saw was the big, bustling, business part of Tokyo. We will definitely visit Japan when we have time to explore and enjoy.

We arrived safely in San Diego after a 10 hour flight. From San Diego we enjoyed the Blue Line Trolley which took us right to the Mexican border.

Crossing the border was easy, the Mexican immigration folks are lovely and friendly.

We took a taxi from the border to Ensenada, less than 2 hours, for $80. There are cheaper ways to go (by bus) but we were very tired. We arrived safely at the Mona Lisa RV park. And are enjoying the Pacific Ocean Views.

♡Hasta Luego Mexico♡

March 9, 2018 by BOLT, posted in African American, Baja California, Black, dogs in Mexiso, Ensenada, Gay, generational, Lesbian, Long distance, Long term travel, Mexico, Old, queer, retirement, rv, rv with dogs, RVing, Thailand, Travel, WOC, Women

Tomorrow morning Kathy and I will be leaving Mexico. We will also be leaving Winnie, our well loved RV, and Kahlo, our beloved dog. We have really enjoyed our year and a half of RV life. We visited 22 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. We found and fell in love with Kahlo, met lots of wonderful people and have so seen much beauty.

However Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand, has been calling our names and we’ve decided to return for a year. Winnie will remain here in the safe keeping of the Mona Lisa RV Park.

Kahlo will also remain here for the year. We believe she will be happier here than in an apartment in Thailand. She has a best friend, Lucky, and Lucky’s owner, Javier, will take good care of her while we are gone.

We will miss her very much and probably miss RV life too. However this is the life we have chosen to live…a life of “home-free” travel, and sometimes sad good byes.

Un Viaje a La Bufadora

March 1, 2018March 1, 2018 by BOLT, posted in African American, Baja California, Black, Ensenada, family, Fun, Long distance, Long term travel, Mexico, RVing, Travel, Uncategorized

La Bufadora is a blowhole (marine geyser) located on the Punta Banda Peninsula, just outside of Ensenada. It is one of the largest blowholes in North America and probably the largest tourist attraction in the Ensenada area. Cruise ship passengers are taken to the site by bus for around $35.

Our neighbors and friends, Keiko and Graeme, were leaving Ensenada so we decided to pay a visit to this famous spot. The trip was three bus rides and about 40 pesos each from the Mona Lisa RV Park.

The spout of sea water is the result of air, trapped in a sea cave, exploding upwards. Air is forced into the cave by wave action and is released when the water recedes. This interaction not only creates the spout, but a thunderous noise as well. The phenomena repeats every minute or so with its volume depending on the strength of the waves.

See my video of La Bufadora here.

I actually enjoyed the scenery around the area more than the actual blowhole. Because there were no cruise ships in town it was actually very quiet and quite beautiful.

There are lots of little tiendas (shops) leading up to La Bufadora. All sorts of food, drinks and souvenirs are for sale. Keiko and Graeme had fun buying things to take home to Japan and Canada.

Although I would never pay the cruise ship tour price, I’m really glad I got to see this natural wonder and spend time with my friends.

RICE It!

February 8, 2018 by BOLT, posted in African American, Baja California, Black, Ensenada, family, Fun, healthcare, knee pain, Long term travel, Mexico, Old, POC, queer, retirement, rv, RVing, Uncategorized

I’m going to be down for about a week and not too happy about it! I’m very much a woman who likes to fill up her days with activities. Here in Ensenada, I’ve been going for 90 minute walks on rough roads and running and dancing on the sandy beach. I don’t know exactly how but I’ve injured my right knee. Ignoring the pain (for about 2 weeks) hasn’t helped and reducing my exercise time hasn’t helped. Finally I am paying attention to my wise wife…which always helps. Kathy reminded me that this knee thing has happened to me before (2 years ago) and the solution was RICE. No, not the often delicious grain that I love.

The combination of rest, ice, compression and elevation are what solved my problem two years ago and I trust it will do so again. So, rather than sink into self-pity or drama about it, I thought I’d do something helpful and share this solution. I also want to share gratitude that our BOLT life allows me the time to RICE and a beautiful and serene place to do it in. Looking forward to being up and about in a week…just in time for our excursion into town for Black Panther, hopefully able to do this then!

Turistas Por un Día

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 by BOLT, posted in African American, Baja California, Black, Ensenada, Fun, Lesbian, Mexico, Old, queer, retirement, rv, RVing, serendipity, Travel, Uncategorized, WOC, Women

Yesterday BOLT had lots of fun being Ensenada tourists for a day. While Kathy and I are enjoying the simple life here at the Mona Lisa RV Park, there is not much excitement. So, along with our neighbor we set out to have some fun. We caught the mini-bus just outside our gate and within thirty minutes we were in the center of town. From there we had a great day! Let me show you in pictures. Our first stop was lunch. We ha a delicious and inexpensive meal at Antojitos Lula. Three meals, including soup, appetizers and beverages was 300 pesos ($15) total! Definitely a place where we will return. We worked off our lunch by strolling through the busy streets of downtown Ensenada, window shopping and just taking in the sights, sounds and colors. We visited this really cool museum. The Museo Histórico Regional is a small museum set on the site of a former prison. You can visit the former cells and there are exhibits about early life in Baja. I especially enjoyed practicing my Spanish with one of the curators. We both agreed that: “En todo el mundo la mayoria de los prisioners son inocentes.” That most are imprisoned for lack of money. Our walk continued to the cruise ship harbor. A big ship was in port so there were lots of vendors out. We are savy enough to know not to buy anything, it was all overpriced but fun to see. Our last stop was the beautiful Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia. This is a fairly large museum and we didn’t have time to explore it all. The part we visited replicated a cave and had anthropological finds exhibited throughout. Another place we will definitely return to. We most definitely had the perfect day of tourism and we were happy to return to our peaceful Mona Lisa home.